


magical solar powered robot boy

by katah



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Gen, Nightmares, here's hoping i finish this, steven's magic technology interfering powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23771932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katah/pseuds/katah
Summary: an exploration of steven's ability to interfere with technology, or: 5 times steven accidentally magically interferes with technology, like in canon? and 1 time it's useful/entirely on purpose: the ficill add a better summary later sksk
Relationships: Amethyst & Steven Universe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	magical solar powered robot boy

**Author's Note:**

> ill regret this title later but its funny to me right now so  
> enjoyy?? yes grammarly i want two y's in that specifically stop judging me. smh

Cold chains wrapped around him, dragging him backward, into the depths- saltwater splashed into his mouth as he roared- he could taste it, and he could feel the cold and the water growing deeper, waves crashing against his scales, and the ocean- kept getting deeper- he thrashed, and lost his balance in the current for a moment and his head plunged under the water, his whole body under the water, and he screamed and saltwater filled his lungs, and he lunged for the surface and chains dragged him back, and his eyes widened and sand came up all around him where he hit the bottom and he couldn't breathe and he couldn't breathe and he couldn't

His eyes snapped awake, and he- he was- he was- Oh.

He rolled over in his bed, staring at the wall. He was breathing. He could breathe. He could hear his heart in his ears, thumping, and his mouth tasted like crap. He should brush his teeth. What time was it?

3:07 AM, his phone helpfully displayed when he turned it on, and he turned it off and rolled onto his back with a sigh.

Only to be disturbed by muffled, slow footsteps on the stairs going up the loft. It sounded like Amethyst trying to sneak. He could pretend to be asleep. Or he could say hi. He compromised.

"I'm asleep," He called, stretching his arms out with a yawn. 

There was a magical glow sound. "Oh, good," said Amethyst's voice, as a familiar purple owl landed on the shelf by his bed. She started preening her fake magic owl feathers.

"Hi," He mumbled, trying to get the image of chains and saltwater out of his head.

"Hey," Amethyst said back, hopping off the shelf and flapping onto his bed, where she shapeshifted to sit on the foot of it.

"You a'ight?"

"Yeeeaah?" He said hesitantly, suspicious. "Why?" And then- Oh, wait. Oh gosh.

"Oh, stars," He groaned, laying an arm over his face. Amethyst patted him sympathetically. "Did I..."

"A little, yeah," She said, consolingly. "I think I just got the end of it."

The dream was getting fuzzy, but he went over in his head whatever he could recall. Corruption. Drowning. "Sorry," he mumbled into his arm.

She snorted. "Dude, don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong."

He could probably refute this, but his brain was too tired to come up with a good reason for him to be guilty, so instead he just mumbled "okay". Tired brain! Tired brain was good. That meant he could fall back asleep. Except his heart was still kind of thumping, a bit. And he was both too aware of the bad taste in his mouth and too not aware that it wasn't saltwater at the same time, and neither of those things were conducive to getting back to sleep, and he was more than a little worried he would accidentally project his dreaming subconsciousness onto the TV again while having a nightmare and that was a whole basket of worms he knew he'd just lie awake thinking about until he stuck to the sheets with sweat.

He groaned, removing the arm from his face. "I don't think I'm going to get back to sleep," He admitted, sitting up.

"You want to talk about it?"

He winced, picturing pink claws digging into sand on the ocean floor, and wordlessly shook his head. "Thanks," He added a second later, voice a little rough. "But I don't really wanna... Think about it any more." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Amethyst nodded, silent for a moment.

"You wanna chug hot chocolate and watch diners and drive-ins?" She offered with a grin.

He considered this, then gave a small smile. "No motor oil in mine," He said, and she made a face.

"Aw, man! You're no fun," She said, grinning, then sighed. "Kids these days. Got no taste, I'm telling you."

She and Steven made eye contact. Then they both burst out laughing. 

She stood up and offered him a hand, which he took to pull himself up.

"Thanks," He said quietly.

She squeezed his hand. He was here. Everything grounded him in this loft, at 3:00 AM, in the future. It was okay. She gave him a smile. 

"Of course."

Two hours later, Pearl entered the beach house to find Steven and Amethyst passed out on the couch in the dim light of the TV, popcorn on the floor and two empty mugs on the table. Some kind of human food show was still playing, casting flickering light over the living room.

She had to resist the sudden, irrational urge to stay and watch over them, like she used to do when Steven was a child. They looked so peaceful. It seemed more precious than any rare gem, and she wanted to protect that. But they'd be alright.

She placed a blanket over them, turned the volume down, and slipped quietly into her room in the temple, with a soft, fond smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> amethyst watching guy fieri on the couch at 3 am and munching on a popcorn bag (bag included):  
> amethyst when the tv starts playing kaiju steven being dragged into the ocean before suddenly shutting off: haha oh whoops shit
> 
> do you think guy fieri is called something else or is he just a universal constant  
> "dude firey"  
> like my warrior cat oc's name before i learned it's spelled 'fiery' and was mortified bc id already made it my username on animal jam and scratch.mit.edu  
> anyways ive got part of an outline for this so chapter 2 should be up in like a week or two months. whenever i next rewatch In Dreams and then stay up too late writing fanfiction. like a day after that happens. so like, soon probably


End file.
